DealBook Briefing: Goldman’s New Boss Won’t Start a Revolution

Goldman has a new C.E.O. (and the same old business plan)

Months of speculation about Goldman Sachs’s succession plans ended yesterday when the bank named David Solomon as its next leader. But the handover from Lloyd Blankfein won’t lead to many changes in strategy.

As Mr. Solomon told the NYT, “There’s not going to be a revolution, there’s going to be evolution at Goldman Sachs.” Goldman will continue its push to rely less on trading profits, seeking new revenue from online financial businesses like its Marcus lending arm. (And Mr. Solomon is likely to continue his side hustles as a DJ and restaurant owner.)

What might change? The WSJ says Mr. Solomon wants his Goldman to have more disciplined and accountable managers, and better gender and work-life balance. He’ll also need lieutenants; contenders include John Waldron, a top deal maker, and Eric Lane, a co-head of investment management.

Google will face the E.U.’s biggest-ever antitrust penalty

European antitrust officials are expected to fine Google $5 billion today for abusing its power in the smartphone market, according to Bloomberg’s unnamed sources. That would be a record, and another sign of the E.U.’s desire to rein in American tech companies.

So far, though, European consumers still seem more than happy with Google’s products, and the company’s stock price and profits continue to climb. Unless the U.S. joins the fray, the E.U.’s lonely battle may do little to check the power of Silicon Valley’s titans.

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CreditJoshua Roberts/Reuters

Trump is Facebook’s biggest political advertiser

The president and his political action committee have spent $274,000 on Facebook ads since early May, N.Y.U. researchers calculated using the social network’s data. (Planned Parenthood was second, with $188,000.) Of the 449 biggest spenders, 210 were left-wing, 124 right-wing and 115 politically neutral. The researchers don’t yet have totals for Republicans and Democrats.

Europe takes advantage of the U.S. trade war

President Trump this week branded Europe an economic foe of America, after berating NATO members. So the E.U. is looking for better friends — and appears to be finding them in Asia.

■ The E.U. yesterday signed its largest trade deal ever, with Japan, cutting tariffs sharply on cheese and wine, and gradually on cars. Together, the signatories are a quarter of the global economy.

■ Beijing appears focused on investments in Europe, not the U.S. The law firm Baker McKenzie finds that China struck $22 billion of new deals in Europe in the first half of 2018, and $2.5 billion in the U.S. Completed deals in America fell 92 percent against last year.

But America remains a huge trading power. As Holger Schmieding, the chief economist at Berenberg, a bank based in Hamburg, told the NYT, the new agreements are “damage limitation rather than compensation.”

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Ben Horowitz of Andreessen Horowitz.CreditDrew Angerer/Getty Images

Andreessen Horowitz changed a famous rule to improve diversity

One of the venture capital titan’s founding principles was that all its general partners had to have founded or led a company. That rule is gone, helping the firm name its first female general partners, Katie Haun and Connie Chan.

The rule has been frequently criticized in hushed tones in Silicon Valley by diversity advocates as an example of the types of hurdles that women and minorities face professionally.

The firm’s co-founder Ben Horowitz wrote in a blog post that the rule had to go before it drove away talents like Ms. Chan, who was promoted internally. The big question now: What will other venture firms do to improve their diversity?

Revolving door

John Schnatter, the founder of Papa John’s, now says he regrets quitting after being accused of using a racial slur. (NYT)

Brian Crutcher resigned as C.E.O. of Texas Instruments after a month. The company said he had violated its code of conduct. (NYT)

Marwan Farwaz stepped down as C.E.O. of Nest as the business was folded into Google’s home devices division. (CNET)